One of the most enjoyable aspects of draft season for me is reading the anonymous quotes from NFL personnel scouts and executives that Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Bob McGinn collects. There are always a few surprises here.
Probably the most interesting article of the series this year was the one that McGinn did on Deshone Kizer. Like many athletes are big football schools, quarterbacks are apparently worshiped on the Notre Dame campus and it evidently affected Kizer because McGinn’s scouts absolutely eviscerated him.
“You look at that team, they’ve got players,” an AFC personnel man said. “There’s no way they should win just four games. It was because of this guy, the quarterback. Boy, at times he looked bad. He was so bad against Stanford in the first half that they benched him.”
“You look at that team, they’ve got players,” an AFC personnel man said. “There’s no way they should win just four games. It was because of this guy, the quarterback. Boy, at times he looked bad. He was so bad against Stanford in the first half that they benched him.”
An NFC personnel man described Kizer as a selfish player worried mostly about status and money.
“That’s what drives him,” said the executive. “It’s all about him. Prima donna. Thin-skinned.”
We all know its lying season in the NFL and its possible these three men are all hoping that Kizer will fall. But his own actions lately have seemingly backed this evaluation up.
On April 20, Kizer was quoted as comparing himself to Tom Brady and Cam Newton.
“Name a college quarterback who goes into the game-plan meetings on Monday and throws his notes at the coaches,” Kizer said. “No one else game plans the way I do. No one else prepares the way I do. No one else knows football the way I do. No one else is as big as I am. No one else is as powerful a runner as I am. Pat Mahomes might throw the ball 80 yards and I can only throw the ball 72, but I guarantee he can’t throw an out route the way I can. No one else can do what I can do. And I’ve truly figured out in this process, if I can maximize all my potential in every aspect of the game – this is bold – I do have the ability to be the greatest quarterback to ever play. Imagine taking Brady’s intellect and Brady’s preparation and putting it on a guy with Cam Newton’s body. Why can’t I be the greatest? The only thing stopping me from it is me. That’s what’s driving me now.”
OK, the guy is confident. Not very unusual if you are a quarterback. Probably a lot of them think it even if they don’t say it.
But Kizer, apparently realizing how arrogant he sounded, decided to claim that his comments were taken out of context the very next day.
Not even drafted yet and he’s already blaming the media? Apparently upon thinking about it, Kizer thought so, too. Because the NEXT day, he decided to effectively retract his claim and own up to the quote.
The point? Kizer’s first instinct was to blame someone else after his misstep. He then decided that those optics weren’t too good either and that he’d better say what he had to to protect his brand.
Sounds pretty much exactly like the kind of guy the anonymous evaluators were describing. Even his college head coach said that he needs more time to grow not only on but off the field.
As Miami fans know well a la Dion Jordan, most NFL draft picks don’t fail due to lack of talent. They fail because they don’t have the attitude it takes to succeed. And Kizer sounds to me like he’s got a great deal of Ryan Leaf in him.
Bottom line, heaven help the team that spends a high draft pick to draft Kizer.